A New Type of Pizza Restaurant Is Popping Up Across the U.S.

These newcomers are offering build-your-own pies

A variety of pizza chains are embracing the “build-your-own” concept that’s trending across the U.S.

The concept is similar to how restaurant chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) and Subway operate, only with pizza instead of sandwiches and burritos. Patrons place their orders at a counter and then select the ingredients they want on their pizza as a restaurant staffers build the pie before their eyes, Nation’s Restaurant News reports.

Here’s a quick look at four pizza chains have been successful with the build-your-own concept.

MOD Pizza: This Seattle-based chain offers “artisan-style” 11-inch pizzas that are served up fast. Customers can build their own or choose from 10 pre-designed creations. Each pizza costs less than $7.

Pie Five: Pie Five, which is owned by Pizza Inn Holdings (NASDAQ:PZZI), gives its customers a choice of thick- or thin-crust options, seven sauces, four cheeses and 21 toppings. The chain’s 9-inch pizzas sell for less than $6.50 and are reportedly ready in five minutes or less.

Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint: Founded in 2009 by the same man who founded and later sold Moe’s Southwest Grill, this pizza joint says its goal is “to serve every guest with love, just as the good Lord would have it.” The chain is super-selective when it comes to its ingredients. Local organic veggies and hormone-free meats are among the restaurant’s 47 topping choices.

Top That! Pizza: Like the other chains on the list, Top That! offers its guests myriad menu choices. It doesn’t, however, make artisan claims. Co-owner Lori Walderich told NRN that “We’re just a pizza place that’s personal.” Top That! offers a 10-inch thick-crust pie for less than $7. It, too, has a variety of toppings, sauces, cheeses and crusts to chose from.

Each chain listed above has been wowing customers and growing wildly, so if they’re not in your neighborhood yet … don’t give up hope.